Hawkeyes post record rally from 21 down

September 18, 2011 at 2:28AM

IOWA CITY - With all hope apparently lost, Iowa turned to James Vandenberg and asked the junior to start chucking it. Vandenberg responded by engineering the biggest comeback in Hawkeyes history.

Vandenberg threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, and Iowa rallied from a 21-point deficit in the second half to stun Pittsburgh 31-27 on Saturday.

Vandenberg threw for 399 yards, including 162 in the fourth quarter. He completed the rally with a 22-yard touchdown pass to a leaping Kevonte Martin-Manley with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left.

Iowa (2-1) trailed 24-3 late in the third quarter and 27-10 early in the fourth. But Vandenberg threw TD strikes of 14 yards to Keenan Davis and 25 yards to Martin-Manley to bring the Hawkeyes within three.

"For three quarters, you saw a pretty ugly James Vandenberg who was a little confused. Those guys just started making plays and it made me more comfortable," Vandenberg said. "I trusted those guys with every one of those throws down the stretch."

Iowa's Micah Hyde picked off Pittsburgh quarterback Tino Sunseri with 1:41 left to cap a wild victory for the Hawkeyes (2-1), who narrowly avoided their worst start in 11 years.

"We made it really tough on ourselves in a lot of different regards. But the big thing is, the guys hung in there and they kept fighting," coach Kirk Ferentz said.

Devin Street had seven catches for 138 yards for the Panthers (2-1), whose biggest news of the day came off the field. A high-ranking Atlantic Coast Conference official said Saturday the league has received application letters from Pittsburgh and Syracuse to join.

"I have no idea about that. Ask somebody else besides me," Pitt coach Todd Graham said.

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